Advancing
by BriEva
Summary: Just when Chloe Sanders is about to graduate high school in Badger Lake her powers take a jump to a level never heard of before. To make matter worse Sean Nasts decides it's time to reveal Badger Lake's existence to the Otherworld Council. But when word gets out about Chloes newfound powers things start to go haywire. (Set after Thirteen)
1. Advancing: Chloe 1

Advancing: Chloe 1

Oh…shit.

This can't be happening.

How did I…?

Not happening, not happening!

I did not just force that _living_ man to stop running. Only witches can do that with a binding spell! If I did that then that means…

My powers…are growing.

* * *

Hi my name is Chloe, Chloe Sanders. I'm a 18 year old 5ft 3 110 pound Necromancer. What's that? Oh just a supernatural being who can see, interact with and control the dead. That's the issue here, the dead! Not the living. I shouldn't be able to-

Well shit. There are a lot of things I shouldn't be able to do.

Not only am I a Necromancer but I'm the only surviving Necro from a top secret science experiment called Project Genesis. The goal was to create stronger super naturals with no side effects under the disguise of weakening our powers. Depending on whom you ask they'll say who was actually a success. When it comes to my friend Simon-a sorcerer whose powers are much weaker then what they should be- the scientists say he's a success. If you ask my boyfriend Derek-who's a werewolf with no instinct to hunt humans- he says he's pretty much a success. Especially after he finally learned how to control his changes more than 70% of the time. Apparently his drawback is he has to change twice more often than a regular were. So 3 times a week instead of once, while also eating a hell of a lot more according to Sean. The upsides besides his control is the fact that he heals a lot faster than what's considered normal and I know his instincts won't ever let him cheat on me.

For me, however it's a different story.

My powers are strong. Like scary strong, I literally cannot summon ghosts within a 50ft radius of a dead body without accidentally raising a zombie. I have a necklace given to me by my mother who passed away when I was young that has a large smooth previously ruby red-now snow white- stone, called a regalia, which helps contains my powers. Over the past 6 months I have been getting more and more of these stones and wearing them all the time. Though my aunt and dad think I'm being a little extreme with all the piercings I now have. Three piercings per ear. Left ear has a regular lobe piercing while an Industrial Bar runs through my cartilage. On my right I have one lobe, one high cartilage, and my tragus pierced. But that's not all, I also have my right nostril and my belly button pierced with studs. All of my rings are made of stainless steel and have been specially made for me alone for they all have a much smaller gem in them. So far all of them are in various stages of changing color-a sign that the regalia are working on reaching my level.

Besides getting all pierced up I also have silver wrists cuffs which have symbols meant to help empower my gems and keep me weakened. An anklet, two toe rings and three regular rings complete my jewelry collection. All of which have small regalia stones embedded into them.

Add in the shoulder length layered strawberry blond hair with a party red peek-a-boo, pale skin, large blue eyes, my usual jeans, tee, sneakers and that's how I look on a daily basis nowadays.

Out of all the super natural's living in Badger Lake I'm the one who stands out the most. Everyone else's powers don't really affect how they look when they are not using them. Me? I look like a wannabe gypsy.

Anyway.

After living on the run when I was 15 me and my friends, who are also part of the experiment, my aunt and the boy's dad, we were found by another group of teens who are part of another experiment. Project Phoenix, which is meant to revive extinct super naturals. The only problem is that the super natural version of the Mafia, the Cabals, followed them and caught us. Well, not really. Eventually they made us a deal, they'll give us a place to live, learn to control our powers and will even pay for our college education. The catch? When we are out of college they are hoping to recruit us to join the Nasts Cabal. And to make things interesting they have even begun teaching us anything we would have to know to be their own private army.

Over the past two and a half years besides honing my powers I've learned two different kinds of self-defense, how to shoot a variety of guns, how to use throwing knifes and win a knife fight. Hot wire a car, boat, and drive a car, plane and a motorcycle. I've learned what plants are poisonous and what are editable. How to look for break in alarms and how to move as quietly as humanly possible without being some kind of shifter. Quite a lot, but still no body is teaching me how to do my taxes.

Do I want to go around being some kind of super-secret agent? No. My dream job has always been to be the next Steven Spielberg and that hasn't changed. What has changed is that my powers are once again growing.

This happened only once before-when I got my period when I was 15. It took at least two months for my powers to stabilize and for me to get a hold of them. Over the last couple of years my powers have taken baby steps, grown at a slower pace that is natural. Except now it's been half a year since my power surge began and they are still growing at a dangerous level.

The scientists of Badger Lake have helped me slow down my powers-in fact they are the ones who notified Sean- our Cabal representative- to look into finding more of the regalia to help me control it better. Other than drugging me-which would only be temporary and as I have no desire to work for the Cabal, to me that is a big no-no. I'm trying to find a way to once again get a grip on my powers without relying on drugs.

What could have happened 6 months ago that caused my powers to grow?

Me and Derek had sex for the first time.

Apparently, after having sex my body started producing more hormones which made my powers all wonky. Did this happen to anyone else? Yeah but I'm the only one who's powers are this screwed up.

A lot of the kids from Salmon Creek- who are part of Project Phoenix- have already had sex. So when their powers kicked in it was wild for them. My friend Rafe, who's a skin walker, had caused an instant animal attraction to my other friend Maya, also a skin walker, when her powers activated. Their cool now but apparently the attraction was strong until Maya realized she loves her best friend Daniel.

For Tori, Simons witch hybrid half-sister, it wasn't that bad as she had already had sex before her powers activated. The worst it did was basically give her the worst mood swings possible until shortly after we came to Badger Lake. After almost a year her powers evened out and luckily for everyone else- so did she. Coarse it helps that she finally has a boyfriend.

For me though I wanted to wait, Derek and I have been together since I was 15 and we both had a lot of stuff happening. He wanted to be completely sure he wouldn't accidentally hurt me and I wanted to be sure I wouldn't raise the dead by accident again.

Sadly I did summon a poor bird. It could have been worse though, if my room hadn't already been warded against ghosts I probably would have summoned an army of the dead. So that wasn't too big of a surprise. It wasn't until I released it afterwards when I thought of Liz and she showed up in an instant that I realized my powers were a little off.

The big clue that my powers were messed up is that the next day I was training on how to summon one specific ghost and I summoned a demi-demon instead. Diriel to be exact, whom once attempted to help me and my friends escape The Edison Group laboratory. She still owes me a favor because a higher up demon came and took her away before she was able to complete her side of the deal. It was nice to chat with her, but hearing her say that my 'glow' that attracts demons and spirits to me was 'deliciously chaotic' freaked me out enough to call for help.

It's now been nearly a month after the strange catastrophe that ended up being a supernatural rebellion to expose us all. Or so that's what we've been told, I'm sure there was more to it than that, and we've finally been given the clear to go have some time in the city. Me and Derek get to go out by ourselves this time, while waiting for our food in the food court of the mall Derek left to go to the bathroom and I saw a man stealing from the tips jar. I know I shouldn't call attention to myself, but seeing the tired looks of the employee's faces made me feel horrible. Just when I was going to say something, thankfully someone else spoke out but the man ran. It wasn't until he shoved a child down that I yelled out to stop.

And that's when he froze mid-step, as if he were a mime, with one leg in the air and another on the ground.

It only lasted for a moment, long enough for me to recognize that stillness. I've seen that before hundreds of times now. It's the stillness a zombie has when I order it to stay still. After a brief moment of panic I imagine cutting the strings to the ma, as if he was a puppet, and he fell to the ground in an instant. For the first time in forever, I felt exhausted from my powers.

And that's how Derek found me while I was sitting on at the table with our food to go.

* * *

"What do you think happened Chloe?"

We left the mall as soon as we could with Derek practically dragging me behind him until we reached the jeep. Derek helped me into the passenger seat and is currently driving us back to our hidden town.

I turn to him, forcing myself to focus on his face. He's changed since I met him, before he wasn't the most attractive guy, in fact he was kind of scary. His black hair was oily and lanky while his face was covered in some bad case of acne. Given his 6 3" height and mass he was quite intimidating. Now he's still intimidating but his acne is completely gone and his hair-which used to fall in his face- is no longer oily but soft and fluffy with his hair cut to about an inch in length. His angular face gives him that ruggedness that a lot of bikers have while also giving him an older appearance than his actual age of 19. People still avoid him but now I catch some women giving him _the_ eye. It didn't help that most of his shirts fit him rather well instead of the loose fitting ones he used to wear.

"I told you what happened,' I mumble. No need to raise my voice, I know he can hear me.

"You said you thought you controlled-"

"I know I did-"

"A _living_ person which is completely impossible." He continues as if I hadn't said a thing. "You powers control the _dead_, not the living."

"But that's what happened!" I shout, causing him to wince. "When was the last time you have ever seen me this exhausted from using my powers?" I lower my volume to reasonable levels yet somehow my voice gets even more intense with every word. "Never. You know why? Because everything is too easy for me. The hardest thing I have trouble with is summoning one specific ghost when there are corpses around me. And that's because I need to tone down my power. Hell I can even control other necromancers zombies just as easily as my own- and that is supposed to be the most difficult thing a necromancer can do. This is the first time my powers have ever exhausted me completely!" I pant. "Obviously, I've reached my limit. I can now control dead _and_ the living. If only for a short amount of time." I think back to how long the thief must have been frozen. It couldn't have been more than a half a minute. I'm sure if I practiced I could probably have held him for longer, but I won't practice because I'll never control the living again.

It took me so long to accept what I do. It's so wrong, when I make a zombie I don't reanimate the body, I shove the soul back into it and control then control the zombie like a doll.

It's possible that's what necromancers can do all along. Control the soul, so if that's the case it shouldn't be that difficult to one day become strong enough to control the living. The dead may be easier because it's apart from the body and is in a different plane of existence. But given how tough it is for an average necromancer to raise one human zombie no one must have gotten strong enough to control the living.

Until me.

"Chloe…" he whispers.

I look his way, seeing the worry etched in his face, the fear in his eyes and I gulp. I know he isn't afraid of me like many of our instructors are. Besides Tori I'm the strongest of the Genesis subjects, and the fact that I'm the last necromancer in our group proves how uncomfortable others are around me. When Sean was searching for the remaining subjects and gathering them to Badger Lake he learned that shortly after the remaining 4 necromancers had their powers activated they died. One car accident, a suicide, heart attack and asthma attack. I probably would have had a heart attack if I wasn't taken to the hospital and drugged until slowly accepting the concept of the supernatural world.

Like me Derek is the last surviving werewolf, just being a werewolf is enough reason to freak out the adults, it's why he also gets the disgusted looks and fear. But when he looks at me that way it's not because he's afraid of me, but for me.

"If the Nasts ever learn the true extent of your powers…" he whispers.

They'll never let me leave.

* * *

We arrive at Badger Lake at sunset. As we pass the sign reading BADGER LAKE: PRIVATE COMMUNITY, I can't help but be amazed by how large our town has grown. With more and more of the Phoenix kids joining and their families it their old town Salmon Creek had basically moved here. And we have Cabal families living here as well, but only the most trusted until it's decided on if the Nasts want to announce our kind to the supernatural community.

We arrive at the large iron gate where security will check to see if we are allowed in or not. The whole point of this place is to give us the chance to grow up in a normal environment without fear of being hated for what we are. So it only makes sense that the gate was put in when some idiot tried to sneak in their human boyfriend from the city.

We have our thumbs scanned then the gates open.

It takes us ten minutes to arrive at the town part, the gate had to be place as far away from us as possible so we won't feel like prisoners.

I see the western buildings in shades of all color. Browns, reds, blues, whites and greens. There's the diner, the beauty parlar, the grocery store and the clinic. A electronics story filled with the latest video games and movies and a store filled to the brim in clothes. Our school, which took up the nickname Monster High, is in the distance on the hill.

If I wasn't here because of a deal this is probably the place I would go to hide.

Derek drives us to my place, my aunt is working at the clinic and my dad lives in Toronto because of his real estate business. The only one we have to worry about is Liz.

Liz was another Genesis subject, a Volo half-demon with strong telekinetic powers. However she didn't survive the Edison Group-the original scientists who were studying us. They deemed her a failure and killed her with a handful of others. Now as a ghost she's a poltergeist who helps me out from time to time. So much so that when Sean asked me and my aunt how many rooms we wanted in our house I said four. One for me, one for Aunt Lauren, one for my dad when he visits and one for Liz.

Of course Liz protested, so we compromised, the attic would be turned into a spare room for Liz with my room having a connecting stair case so me and her can hang out.

When we get to my place however, there is my Aunt's car in the driveway along with Seans.

Me and Derek look towards one another. Wondering what could have called my aunt home early and brought Sean over for an unexpected visit.

"Hello?" I call into the kitchen as I enter through the back door with Derek right behind me.

"Chloe? We're in the living room sweetie!" replies my aunt.

With one last shared look I head towards the living room, my werewolf following me.

"Hi Sean, hey Aunt Lauren what are you doing home so early? I though you said you work till 9 today?"

My aunt doesn't answer. She hasn't really changed that much except for the few wrinkles around her eyes that indicate her age and all that she has been through the past few years. She's very pretty though with her blond bob of hair and complexion.

"Chloe…" she whispers.

"Hello Chloe," Sean gives me a kind smile but his tone isn't the way it usually is. Normally it's more kind, today there is a tightness to it. As if he's forcing himself to be kind.

"Please take a seat. Oh and you to Derek."

As I sit in my favorite spot of the love seat I give Sean a look over. A sorcerer in his late 20's with his blond hair tied back in the usual pony tail. His blue eyes dodge mine, but not before I see a hint of fear in them.

"Are you aware of the microphones and trackers in all the vehicles in Badger Lake?" Sean suddenly asks.

He knows. They know.

Oh shit! How could we have been so fucking stupid!

"Chloe, I just want you to know that we are not going to force you to become a part of the Cabal." Sean state, this time looking me dead in the eye, making me see the truth of his statement.

"Y-your not?" stupid stutter. He shakes his head.

"I was the only one listening at the time you and Derek were talking about your…abilities." He gulps. "The first thing I did was inform your aunt so we can discuss what it is to do. Your abilities would be sought out by other Cabals if they hear about them and unlike us they will force you to work for them or worse."

"Right now your only hope is to work for us specifically, we can continue to protect you and help you discover the depths of your-"

"No." Derek growls.

"Chloe soon the announcement to the Council about your existence will be made." Sean continues pleading me with his eyes to understand. "Badge Lake is going to open to more Cabal families as most of the students are about to go to college and have mastered their powers. You're the only one of your age group whose powers are still unstable and have grown the most. Don't you see that you need our resources?"

I did see, but I also knew I won't become a Cabal dog. I wouldn't be able to stand it no matter how much Sean sugar coats it. I won't be apart of them for what they paid for.

"No," I tell him.

He sighs before getting up and walking towards the front door.

"When will the announcement be made?" Derek asks. It's been in debate for a while now on if and when we should come out and tell the world about us especially after the rebellion where Sean's sister learned of there being another witch/hybrid and began hunting for Tori.

Sean turns around, "At your graduation. The members will be Badger Lakes guests of honor." With that said he leaves

* * *

**Okay so this attacked me last night and I wrote it down like crazy when I got back from school today. This has actually crossed my mind years ago and I even message Kelley Armstrong about the idea of how far Chloe's powers could go. Of course Allison replied in Kelley's stead and told me it wasn't going to happen.**

**Well here on Fanfiction I say it will happen! Chloe's powers are pretty bad ass in the DP/DR/WOTOW Universe. And it was even stated that her powers would continue to grow until she reached full maturity. So I decided to one up her abilities and extend that to the control of souls in general. Living or Dead. She's like a puppet master.**

**Side note but the name for the stone Chloe wears isn't really regalia. I can't remember if either Otherworld or DP mentioned the name or not, if you know the official name of the stone please message me what it is called so I can fix it.**


	2. Assignment: Eve 1

Assignment: Eve 1

The Fates are evil bitches.

I'm pretty sure I read that before or heard it in a movie. But whoever wrote it is dead right.

Emphasis on the dead.

I'm Eve Levine black witch, Aspicio half-demon and in my afterlife carrier I'm a part time angel. And no, not the kind of angel with fluffy wings and bows and arrows that make people fall in love with each other. I hate those damn comparisons. No, the Fates wouldn't have picked me if it was for that. I'm talking about the kind of angels with a sword of fire and a job to collect escaped demons.

I'm a bounty hunter, plain and simple. You got a escaped serial killing poltergeist? I'm your witch.

Not a messenger.

"So what you're telling me is you want me to go talk to this necromancer? Scare her into stop doing what exactly?"

The Fates had morphed into their middle age form, a tall woman with long greying dark hair, lightly tanned skin showing the first hints of wrinkles and large violet eyes. This is their usual form when I'm around. As if appearing closer to my age will make me more reasonable. Bullshit.

"Chloe Sanders, an 18 year old necromancer, has broken one of the laws that have been placed over a thousand years ago." Croaks the hag. "We need you too…make sure she never does that again. Because should she break the law once more, she will need to be executed."

This stops me from mouthing out. An 18 year old girl? My daughter Savannah, who is probably the strongest supernatural alive, was that age a few years ago. Now she's nearly 22 and living with a wannabe surfer Exaustio who's a decade older. At first the age gap bothered me but whenever I go check up on her, especially after my unexpected time back in the land of the living, I see how happy she is with Adam, I just can't help but feel a weight off my shoulders. He loves her nearly as fiercely as me. It's comforting to know that he will do anything to prevent her from being hurt. Not that Paige or Lucus wouldn't-they even died for my daughter before I made the deal that landed me in the Fates pocket. With Adam it's just different.

But this kid, and yeah I'm thinking of this necro as a kid, what did she do that would cause the Fates to summon me to scare her?

"What law?"

"It's none of your concern Eve, just have her know that she can never do it again or she will face the consequences."

Before I could say anything else the Fates dropped me into a forest. Just when I'm about to curse up a storm I hear a high pitched voice call out a "hey". Turning around I see the back of a young girl, no a necromancer.

The glow I've seen around necromancers has always been subtle. Enough to catch the eye, but not enough to overwhelm me. This girls glow is defiantly the brightest and strongest I've ever seen before. A flame that encases her entire body. Flickering in some places while smooth in others. I've seen flames like this before, on my own sword.

Wearing a brightly colored spaghetti strap dress that bunches on her midsection and flares out to the middle of her thighs, she hugs a towel to her chest as she talks into her cell phone.

"What? No I just barely passed Physics with a B-…Yes, Physics is Derek'z zone but to me it's just gibberish. Every time he tried to explain it to me it went in one ear and out the other…You're not much better Rae!" She laughs. "Anyway I'll be at the lake soon, I'm waiting on Maya, she took Kenji for a walk and decided to climb around some..."

I take a step in her direction, hoping she could tell me where the hell I am when someone grabs me from behind.

Making sure my glare is on full blast, I'm about to chew out the moron who is stupid enough to grab me when I see a woman. This one a couple of inches shorter than me, with reddish blond hair and clear blue eyes that are staring at me with a familiar determination that I see in the mirror almost every day. She's wearing a pair of faded blue jeans with a tucked in silk green button down that is bunched at her elbows. I don't bother taking in her shoes, as a ghost she could go around bare foot and it wouldn't make a difference.

"I know who you are, Eve Levine, and I will not let you lay a finger on my daughter." She snarls.

This is new to me. Meeting an equally protective mother in the afterlife is always a hassle. Especially if that mother is guarding her daughter. I should know. The first few years after I died I spent most of the time following Savannah around, trying to figure out a way to return and protect her. She was only 11 when I died. Far too young to have to live without me.

"You know who I am? Well that just makes my job a hell of a lot easier" I pull my arm free, she releases me with little effort. Smart. "So how did you know me?"

The ghost clenches her knuckles; hear the pops causing me to mentally sigh. I still don't understand why even after death such things happen. We don't have physical bodies; we don't age or even have to eat yet our spirits still give us the appearance of a body.

"I've been dead for over a decade," she starts. "I know the rumors, the stories. The black witch who's on the good side of the Fates. The half-demon who hunts her own kind. The one ghost who, for a short while, was brought back to life. Your name is known all throughout the dimensions, as is your picture." She materializes a poster, one with my name on it and a image of me in that damn pirate wench outfit. Below that is a warning to stay away.

"Huh," I didn't know how much of an impact I had on the dead community.

"Stay away from my daughter." Hisses the woman, right before I can tell her to shove it we both hear an "excuse me?" Causing us to look down to see the girl staring at me.

I look mentally measure her, she barley reaches my collar bone. Her strawberry blond hair, identical to her mothers, has a red peekaboo and is tied up into a pony tail. Showing off her multiple piercings which, now that she's closer, I can see has stones that glow twice as fiercely as her. With large light blue eyes, pale skin and lean stature she appears to be a doll. Like Barbie's rebellious kid sister.

"Hi, I'm Chloe are you new to Badger Lake?" She asks.

Badger Lake? I've heard that before…I shake off the thought when I recognize her name.

"Are you Chloe Sanders?"

Chloe's mother tenses at my side. I ignore her as I observe Chloe. Her eyes narrow, then I notice as she subtly shifts her weight, as if she's about to either attack or run away from me. "Who's asking?"

I smirk, I like this kid. "The name's Eve I was forced to play messenger for the Fates today in hopes of getting off of work a little earlier than usual." At her confused face I sigh, bringing up my hand I phase it through the nearest tree.

Her eyes widen, "You're a ghost."

"Yup,"

"And you're here because you have something to tell me?"

With an annoyed groan I nod. Once this job is done I can finally return to Kristof. Kristof Nasts is my other half so to speak. A sorcerer who was once the larder of the largest Cabal in the U.S., he died some months after I did in an accident Savannah caused. He's also Savannah's father. It took a couple of years but when I started working for the Fates we were able to work out our issues. Or well I was able to work out mine.

"Well, um what is it you need to tell me?" She finally asks.

"You broke a law," I meet her gaze. At first, all I see in her eyes is confusion. Then as if she were suddenly doused in cold water all the color leaves her face. Her large eyes bug out, making her look like that one actress from That 70's Show. What was her name again? Mina? Ah, whatever, I'll figure it out later, I've got the time.

"So," I continue "you know how people are usually given three strikes? Well I guess this is your third. Whatever the hell you did you can't do it anymore. Otherwise I'll be come back, which trust me you don't want that to happen. Especially if I'm called in from vacation." I threaten with an evil grin. The Fates said to scare her, so I'm scaring her.

"I won't let you hurt her!" Hisses her mother, who's still at my side. "She's suffered enough as it is."

"I-I-I," Chloe stops speaking. She swallows and takes a deep breath before starting again. "I didn't mean to break any laws. I didn't even know that _that_ was a law…I'll have to ask Sean for more regalia…"she mutters off.

Her comment freezes me. "Sean? As is Sean Nasts?"

Surprise blooms on Chloe's face. "You know him?"

"Yes," Sean is Kristof's eldest son; he's Savannah's elder half-brother and currently running the Nasts Cabal. After his grandfathers murder some months ago he became the new head of the company.

I clear my head, focusing on the young girl in front of me and zoning out her mother. "How do you know Sean? Does your family work for the Nasts?"

Chloe bites her lip before slowly shaking her head. "Not…really. They offered us positions in return for what was done to us. We don't have to work for them…but obviously they want us."

I don't miss her plural terms. "Now… I'm curious. Who else are you talking about? Why do the Nasts want you? What was done to you?"

It's probably not the best idea to just ask her outright, but as soon as she mentioned Sean she doomed herself for a full blown interrogation. Kristof's son is close to Savannah, the closest in fact of her brothers. And here I find a young girl who speaks as if the Nasts owe her, who was just given her last warning from the Fates…This just doesn't feel right.

"The Nasts want us because-"

"Chloe! There you are!"

We turn to the right where the feminine voice called from but all I see is a German Shepard standing by a tree. It isn't until it barks that I notice it's head is tilted upwards. Raising my gaze I see a Native American girl in a black bikini top and jean shorts standing about thirty feet high on a large branch of the red wood. The wind blows and I see a few locks of long black hair dance around her.

"Maya what are you doing up there?" Chloe asks. Surprisingly enough, she didn't raise her voice.

Maya shrugs. "I thought it would be fun to climb a bit before we went for a swim you know? A sort of warm up, you know when I'm in the forest I lose track of time. I'm sorry." With that said she lifts her foot…

And steps off the branch.

I know I can't do anything, but the way she just casually fell made my stomach drop. Instinctively I almost shout out until she curves in the air then lands perfectly on all fours. Standing up to her full height the darker skinned girl is closer to my eye level then the petite necro. She saunters over to us, instinctively rolling her hips with a grace that could only be described as feline. A dark spot on her right hip brings my attention to a paw print tattoo. The dog trotting along side her, while panting with it's tongue out.

"Come on, were late for the barbeque."

"Just a moment." Chloe turns back to me with a grimace on her face. "What's your name again?"

"Eve. Eve Levine."

She nods. "Well Eve thank you for the message. I'll be sure to keep it in mind while I'm training. If you want to come by later my place isn't that far from here." She nods in the general direction of the road. "It's just down that dirt road, the reddish brown house." Chloe clarifies.

"Alright."

"Oh and if you see a girl a couple of years younger then me that's just Liz. She stays in the attic. If you want you can talk to her. Or wait for me. I'll be back later." With one last glance my way Chloe, Maya and the dog leave.

I turn to Chloe's mother. She doesn't seem to have calmed down.

"What is this place?"

Her gaze hardens before she looks my way.

"Find out for yourself. Just don't hurt my daughter or her friends."

Then she vanishes.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Yay! I'm on break! Finally! Sadly it's only for 3 weeks. My school is on a quarterly schedule so that's why my break is so short**

**Sorry this took so long to update. I had trouble figuring out how Chloe and Eve's meeting should go. The sudden appearance of her mother was a last minute touch. I remembered how in the Reckoning she showed up and tried to warn Chloe about Dr. Banks and thought. "Well if Eve, someone who took the afterlife by storm suddenly shows up of course Chloe's mom would be on the defensive." Eve is one of the Women of the Otherworld characters. Her story is Haunted, if your are interested in reading.**


	3. Avoiding: Chloe 2

Avoiding: Chloe 2

It isn't until we are halfway down the hill that Maya starts interrogating me.

"So who were you talking to?" she asks for the third time.

I groan. "Can't we just drop it?"

"Nope." I hear Maya sigh before I feel her hand on my shoulder, preventing me from walking any farther. I look at her, taking in her light brown eyes and strong native features. Maya is beautiful, in a way that I'll never be. Whereas my looks give off an impression that I'm easily breakable, there is no way to think that Maya can't take care of herself. She has a confidence a strength that I wish I could have. But I think that Maya isn't nearly as confident as she projects. Never the less when she's worried she won't hesitate to say it.

"Listen, you looked pretty freaked when I showed up. So whatever or whoever that ghost was did something to scare you, I just want you to know you can talk about it with me."

I try to give her a bright smile. "You know…curiosity killed the cat."

She groans. "I'm so sick of that joke!"

I laugh. Maya's a skin walker from her Navajo heritage. Meaning that she is able to shape shift into a cougar almost at will. Like Derek it took some time for her to learn to bring on the change herself, but with practice she is now able to do it. Though unlike Derek Maya's changes are nowhere close to the agony Derek has to go through. She describes it as an out of body experience, as soon as she starts changing she blacks out. It seems that along with the typical enhancement's werewolves get in terms of senses skin walkers-mainly the females- are gifted with the ability to help heal animals faster. And once healed the animals typically take an affinity to her. It's funny really because while animals of all variety flock towards Maya they all avoid Derek like the plague.

Thinking of Derek reminds me of what happened yesterday when I hurt that man, returning me to my previously dour mood.

"I know I can talk to you Maya. You're one of my best friends but this is something I need to figure out for myself before I start asking for help." I look her in the eye, something that a few years ago would have me freaking out over so many trivial things. "Just trust me on this. When I'm ready I'll be waiting outside my door with catnip."

Satisfied with my answer she laughs and we resume our journey to our graduation party.

* * *

Even though Maya, Derek and the others are older than me by a year we are all graduating at the same time. The reason? Because Sean decided it would be best for us all if we got a hold of our powers first before we all started learning to prevent any incidents like turning into a predator in class, having Zombies knocking on our window, sending someone flying with just a word or accidentally incinerating a desk with a ball of pure magic. So all in all we learned how to control our powers and abilities. For some it was longer than others. Like me, it took me quite a while to learn how to hold back my power.

Because of the months my friends and I spent on the run we all had to be homeschooled-which isn't something we were used to. Or well me and Tori weren't used to. Aunt Lauren and Kit-Simon, Derek and Tori's father- were good teachers but we couldn't all work at the same level. The others were ahead of me, Derek by years when it comes to math and science, and I was forced to catch up to them. This brought down my GPA drastically.

However once Badger Lake was being built, and Monster High along with it, Sean has us all take placement tests and decided that we would spend some months before the school opened to all get on the same academic level and graduate at the same time. My tutor, Ms. Armstrong, was really strict but thanks to her I was able to catch up and now we are all graduating together. It also helped that I was pushing myself so I can go to college with Derek. I don't want to be left behind and so long as I'm able to be by his side and learn more about films I'll be happy.

* * *

As we approach the lake I see a large white building in the distance and inwardly I cringe.

The lab, at least that's what I can't help but think of it as, on the other side of the lake is the residence of those whose powers are truly out of control or crippled them in some way.

As Sean began finding more and more of us we discovered that a minority of others have crossed a line. At first the doctors weren't sure if it was because of the experiments or if the kids were really that crazy. After some studies it was discovered that it was indeed the experiments which caused the insanity that so few suffered.

Maya's ex-friend, Nicole Tillson, is a xana. A siren type of supernatural who murdered Serena, Maya and Daniel's best friend, a year before Salmon Creek burned down and Maya's powers started awakening. From what I heard Nicole killed Serena because she wanted Daniel and after Daniel and Maya started to get closer she tried to kill Maya as well. According to the scientists, xana are extremely territorial- worse than werewolves- and while a majority of the xana seems to have that instinct under control Nicole doesn't. So far none of their medicine has been able to help stable Nicole so she is still being held in the lab.

Others have ended up in the lab, like one skin walker named, Jason Smith. He, like Rafe's older sister Annie, is a proto type for the phoenix experiment. However unlike Annie he didn't get help in time. After he started changing, like many of the other skin walkers, he started to mentally regress to that of an animal. So far no treatment has been able to bring him back, so he stays in the lab. He was found wandering in Northern California wandering around a small town in his cougar form. Because of Jason's discovery his two younger siblings, Alec and Maria, were found before they started changing.

We are given weekly visits to see those being held. I think it's more for our sake then for theirs though. The main reason my friends and I started to run is because the Edision Group killed off the failures, like Liz, Brady and Amber. So in order for us to keep calm and not take off again Sean has us interact with them. Even though it is a nice gesture it doesn't stop my fear of the large white building.

* * *

"Hey what took you guys so long!" Yells a comforting voice, and instantly I feel a smile tugging at my lips. Simon Bea, Derek's foster brother and Tori's half-brother, is waving up at us with his usual easy going smile. With his natural blond hair and Asian features he's often joked about being our anime mascot-especially with his awesome talent for drawing. Wearing dark blue swim trunks and an open white button down Simon sits at the food table with his sketch book open and a pencil in his hand.

"Maya decided to have a little work out" I say as soon as he's within hearing distance so I don't have to yell. All around me towels, backpacks and purses litter the ground while Daniel is standing by the portable grill cooking up burgers, hot dogs, streaks and pork chops. Surrounding Simon on the table are a variety of chips and dip, potato or egg salad, corn on the cob and sweets. Coolers are set close to the tables filled with ice and drinks. Open bottles of beer, water and soda cans are set by people's things while most of my friends are in the lake swimming and splashing about.

"Hey, Simon is Derek here yet?" I ask him as I set down mine and Maya's towel by his stuff.

"Nah not yet." He shakes his head as he finishes shading the skin of one of his characters. "Dad wanted to talk to him about something. I think it has to do with the Pack."

I involuntarily clench my teeth at the news before I take a seat next to him to inspect his work.

The Pack is basically the werewolf police program. They govern mutts, a term used by werewolves for those outside of the Pack, from exposing them to the humans. They have a strong set of rules that Derek learned after coming here. For instance, mutts are not allowed to live in one place, they can't have territory as that right is reserved only for the Pack. So basically by staying in Badger Lake for so long Derek would be in trouble. Which is something I don't want to happen. I've heard stories about the Pack, until about thirty years ago the enforcers used to go out and hunt mutts just for the hell of it, or the infamous chainsaw psycho who sent out photo's of a mutt all butchered in order for others to stay out of New York State.

Sean has reassured me time and time again that the Pack isn't a bunch of brutes and crazies. That they even have a female alpha and help others. That the mutt hunts are over and instead they only kill the man eaters. However no matter how many times I hear this, the thought of Derek being tortured to death simply because he hasn't left Badger Lake won't leave me. Maybe if I meet the Pack in person these fears will leave but until then I won't trust the Pack.

"So why is Kit bringing this up again?" I ask while observing the magic Simons hands work on the piece of paper in front of him. It's incredible really. The drawing looks like a picture of wait…is that me?

Standing in a forest on a foggy night the drawing of me is staring straight ahead with a determined look in her eyes. Dressed in a short clinging dress to reveal all her jewelry she wears a little crown made of bones atop her head. Her hair is floating around her face while her hand beckons to the viewer, as if to follow her to the empty grave set in the ground at her feet. Behind her are vague images of an army of corpses, shadows and ghosts.

"Derek came home last night and told us Sean said the council will be coming to our graduation next week." Simon continues as he switches his color pencils. "Dad remembered that the Alpha is on the council and wants Derek to use this as an opportunity to introduce himself to the Pack. But Derek doesn't see the point in doing so. He's already learned basically everything in his mind and sees no reason to rely on the Pack."

I sigh out in relief before I really think about the fact that the Alpha is coming here. Pushing the thought away I focus more on the art in front of me. "And when exactly did I become princess of the dead?"

He smirks, "Three years ago when you become the most powerful Necromancer I know."

"There you are!"

Jumping in surprise I see Rea racing towards our table.

As an Exaustio half-demon Rea is able to set things on fire and eventually incinerate. Though it took her quite a while to advance to the fire and melting part. She, like Simon, was extremely limited in her abilities until her mother Jacinda came and took her from the Edison Group. She spent two years on the run and sometime during that time her powers grew. Sean found her and her mother roughly eight months ago, and after clearing up a misunderstanding and escaping a crazy man Rea and her mother came to Badger Lake for help and safety. The scientists and doctors believe it's because of the emotional strain she suffered during that time and if forced her powers to evolve. Though she is still weaker then how she probably would be without the experimentation she is still dangerous if she loses her temper.

Wearing a burnt orange one piece with gold and black trimming and a sheer black wrap around her waist Rea gives off the appearance of a natural beauty. During the time she spent with her mom she went through a growth spurt and lost her remaining baby fat. Though Tori still makes rude remarks regarding Rea's weight, it no longer bothers her. Rea grew confident in her curves and honestly I think she looks great. With light caramel skin, natural coppery auburn curly hair and dark brown eyes Rea is easily one of the most eye catching of our group.

"Chloe! Please tell me you saw last night's episode of _Game of Thrones_?"

"Damnit!" I swear. "Sorry Rea I forgot, I had a lot on my mind."

"Well you better catch up because let me just tell you it was freaking awesome! First Arrya-"

"No spoilers!" Simon yells!

I chuckle. "You missed it too?"

"Yeah," he mumbles.

"Why?"

Sheepishly he closes his sketch book while avoiding to make eye contact with either Rea or me.

"Can't tell you." He confesses as he is putting away is supplies.

"Why not" questions Rea.

I almost didn't see it but the slight smirk of his lips and the mischief in his eye gave his intentions away.

"Rea! Run!" I shout before I make a beeline for the trees just as Simon is lifting a water pistol from his back pack.

* * *

After the water gun fight broke out, leaving me soaked to the bone I might add, we ate and just hung out. Derek came about an hour after I arrived and just in time for the food.

Derek and I are roaming the woods nearby, hand in hand as we talk about anything, except what happened yesterday.

"So I was playing cards with Liz last night and-"

"I'm not going to New York."

I stop midsentence to look at Derek's luminous green eyes.

"I know." I tell him.

"But I'm going to talk with the alpha when she gets here. In case there is anything I should know about or should learn." He continues to explain with a pointed look in my direction. "I need to know more about my heritage as a werewolf in order to know what I can do."

"I understand."

He growls, "no Chloe you don't otherwise you would go talk to more necro-"

"And ask them what exactly?!" I turn on him, hissing my concerns. "When I came here they weren't able to help me learn to focus my power. To diminish it so I can summon stubborn ghosts and not raise the dead. I had to figure that out by myself. Work around their rituals and search for new ways to remain hidden from the dead, but now? No way in hell." I know he's just trying to help, especially after yesterday, but I know I can't rely on other necromancers. They won't be able to help me anymore, I came to that conclusion last night. I'm different and always will be, like the rest of my friends.

"'But don't you think it's odd? After everything you told me about the history of necromancers it's been bugging me on how you were suddenly able to-"

"I know what I'm able to do and I am never doing it again."

"I think the experiment gave you a necromancers full powers." He finally states.

Shocked I step back. Derek slowly walks me over to a rock and sets me down next to him.

"I think necromancers originally had more abilities then we thought."

I look to the ground, biting my lip as I take into my thoughts from yesterday spill from Dereks mouth. His confirming I was right in assuming that my kind have the ability to control others just made it feel that more official.

I theoretically control the living.

And I'm in trouble with someone in other realms because I discovered this the hard way. Enough that they sent some woman to warn me to never do this again. One who just so happens to be waiting at home so I can be interrogated.

I lean into Derek, basking in his warmth, forcing my mind to push away all those worries and focus on the here and now. I lean up and kiss him midsentence- not even trying to follow what he was previously trying to say. I know I'm avoiding the inevitable but I can't process this right now. I need to take one thing at a time.

I want to just be a teenager and get ready for Prom which is in three days. Get excited for graduation. After that I'll worry about my powers, the threat, the Council. I know I have a ghost wanting answers in my house but right now I don't want to think about that. I just want to be an average teenage girl. Not princess of the dead. In order to do that I need to go shopping with Tori and the girls tomorrow.

But first things first.

I need to get Derek to take off his pants.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Yup.**

**I ended this chapter on a sex joke.**

**Hehehe.**

**So Rae's story will be more explained as Kelley comes out with the chapters in Atoning. I tried to gloss over it so I can add more later if I want her to become a more involved character.**

**Oh btw Jason, Alec and Maria are OC's. They won't really be in this story until later but they are not that important in terms of plot. **


	4. Adjusting: Elena 1

Adjusting: Elena 1

A scream from the house is what I hear when I return from my run.

Recognizing the voice as my daughters calms me down somewhat, Kate seems to have inherited both her father's and mine's temper so she screams quite often whenever she is throwing a tantrum unlike her brother Logan. Just thinking of my children and I feel my fur stop standing on end and my claws retract from the grass beneath my paws. With an annoyed flick of my tail I resume my walk to the front door.

* * *

My name is Elena Michaels, mother of two, wife to a psychopath, Alpha of the American Pack and the only full grown female werewolf in the world.

After surviving the Supernatural Apocalypse over a month ago, finding out that the previous Alpha's monster of a father is still alive, being named the new Alpha and failing to capture and kill previously mentioned monster, while raising my kids I've been pretty damn busy lately. So of course when Sean called me up last week and invited me to my homeland Canada for a week I accepted, then regretted it when he mentioned it wouldn't exactly be a vacation but mainly Council member work. It would be a celebration of some kind as well as a meeting to discuss recent events.

He wouldn't say more than that, other than to make sure I know that if I want to I can bring the kids along. I won't. When it comes to Council activities it's best to not bring the kids, at least not until they can Change on their own. Which for Kate's case is unknown.

Still, it's difficult to adjust to the sudden turn my life has taken during the past few months. While Jeremy had been giving me more and more responsibilities over the last couple of years the finality of being Alpha didn't really hit me until after our return from Russia. As Alpha that means I'm the one in charge of not only my family but also the mutts who roam the continent. I have to give the tough calls from now on when it comes to their punishments and also lay down the law when pups come into their Changes while also remaining in top fighting condition so they won't challenge me for my seat.

Sure Clay will have my back, he always does, but that doesn't mean I will just rely on him to do the heavy lifting. I can take care of myself in a fight just fine; it's the stress of everything that's been getting to me lately. Not that I'll let anyone know, Jeremy chose me as his successor for a reason. He knows I can handle the pressure once I get adjusted to it.

* * *

I nudge the door, hoping it would open and growling when I realize that someone must have locked it. I would just Change and walk in but the voices of Savannah and Adam make their way to me. I know they won't appreciate me walking around in the buff. Well Adam might, Savannah might just be scared for life at the sight of one someone who is practically family walking around nude.

So swallowing my pride I scratch at the door, knowing someone in the house with super hearing would get it. I've been thinking of getting a doggy door, maybe have someone, Paige or Savannah, and enchant it so only Pack can use it. That would work, much better than this humiliation.

With a click I step backwards as carefully as possible. Going in reverse on four legs is a hell of a lot harder than on two.

The door open, instead of looking up I look down slightly and see the face of my 8 year old daughter. With curly blond hair that she inherited from her father and big ice blue eyes she gives off the appearance I must have as a child. But like me, her doll like features are only skin deep.

"Mommy!" Kate shrieks before leaping at me with everything she has. Nearly knocking me over with her veracity and tightly gripping my neck while burrowing her face into my fur.

"Your leaving again! Savannah said you get to go to a big party and you didn't tell us!" she whines. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because she probably doesn't want us to go."

I see Kate's twin brother and my son, Logan, waiting by the door with his usual calm expression on his face. If Kate got our temper then Logan got all the self-control. Well most of the time. When his twin sister gets him angry it's a pretty scary thing. He reminds me of Jeremy, cool and calm but when you look in his eyes you sense the potential hunter in him. I like to think of him being a future Alpha with the way he is now but I know more than anyone that people change over time.

"Why not!" Demands Kate as she frees me from her death grip. Clay must have been showing her some wrestling moves because her choke hold has defiantly gotten better.

I shake my fur out, trying to get as much dirt off as possible before I head inside. I make it a few feet into the hall before Kate cries out in frustration.

"Mommy!"

A growl rumbles up in my throat as I give my daughter a firm look. _No_, is what it says. But still she complains, demanding to know why they can't come with me to another country. They've already done it before, so my not now?

Huffing I decide I need to distract her. With an excited whip of my tail I face Kate and stare her down. She meets my eyes with a defiant glare… and holds it for about ten seconds before looking away. The instant she averts my gaze I nip at her nose, nothing to break skin just my front fangs lightly scraping against her. Then I lick her, giving her a wolf kiss. I grin mischievously as she cries out and rubs off the wetness with her sleeve. When she looks back up I move down on my front paws, exaggeratedly wagging my tail and rear end. Her large eyes widen before she laughs and runs away with her brother following. I give chase.

Of course, I don't run full out, we're inside the house where too many things can fall. But loping after my children playfully is always a good way to make them forget something.

After mock hunting the two young blonds I pounce on top of Kate as she tries to crawl under the table. Shifting my weight to my front paws I sit on her back, holding her down as I give a playful howl indicating that I've caught my prey when suddenly someone jumps onto my back.

Logan tries to push me off his sister but fails as I have the leverage of my stance. I make sure not to crush my daughter, who is still struggling underneath me, while I continue my victory call.

Laughter causes me to turn my face to the entrance of the hallway where Savannah is nearly doubled over laughing and Adam is taking photos on his iPhone.

"Looks like your mom won again kids." Adam chuckles out. "Now why don't you admit defeat so she can go Change?"

I hear my children growl, like their parent's they hate to lose-another trait they picked up from us- before the call out a reluctant "Uncle" signaling that the game is over.

Logan slides off of me as I get off his sister's back. With a huff of thanks towards the half-demon I trot towards the stairs.

* * *

I lay on the floor of mine and Clay's room-panting from exhaustion. I've been Changing for over twenty years and still it takes me a few minutes to get used to either my human or wolf body. I stretch-toes pointed and hands reaching well above my head as my back arches off the grown. I hear my joints pop while feeling the cool refreshing feeling of stress leaving my body. Finally I sigh and sink into the comfy rug.

A chuckle has me turn my head to the side to see Clay leaning against the doorway of the bathroom. Standing in only his jeans with his toned body on display I trail my eyes down his chest, admiring the view of before trailing my gaze up to his sculpted face. His cropped blond curls and electric blue eyes are usually the first thing other women notice about him when we are out on the streets, the second is the simple ring he had on his finger proving that legally he's mine so they better back off.

"I would have run with you if you wanted." He drawls in that heavy southern accent of his.

I turn back to looking at the ceiling. "I know, but I just wanted some time to think."

He nods. "About Sean's call for a meeting."

Sigh. "Yeah. We already have enough to deal with already" I sit up and turn back to him. "Most of the time whenever the council is called together it's because of something big."

"True," Clay grunts.

"I just don't want to take on anything more until after our side project is taken care of." I give him a meaningful look. He doesn't comment; we both know I'm talking about Malcolm roaming the streets.

Malcolm Danvers. The Pack's boogeyman has recently escaped from the Nasts Cabals custody. Sean has informed us what he was used for while he was imprisoned for thirty years. They would cryogenically freeze him, slowing his already slow age rate so that he's still in his prime despite being close to 80 years old. They would send him out on assassination missions; use him as their own lab rat all while keeping him hidden from the Pack. Right now Nick, Clay's best friend and our fellow Pack mate, is in charge of the search for Malcolm. So far it's going nowhere so Nick has been thinking of hiring a mercenary group to do the searching for us. When they know where Malcolm is Nick will confirm it then Clay will get his well-deserved rematch with the ancient wolf

"I'm all for letting the others deal with this darling."

"I know."

"They don't need us there every time something goes wrong."

"Right." But this wasn't something that was going to go wrong. This was supposed to be a celebration of some kind and a simple catch up meeting. Nothing more right?

…

Sigh. "Start packing Clay we're going to Badger Lake."

* * *

**A/N**

**Whenever someone is in their wolf form and it's not a stressful situation they always seem very playful to me so I wanted to capture that feeling while Elena was playing with her kids.**

**Two in a row! Whoop! Don't get used to it! **


End file.
